Confusion in MVA as Congress neta declares new seat-sharing plan

MUMBAI: Complete confusion prevailed in the Maha Vikas Aghadi after Congress legislature party leader Balasaheb Thorat declared yet another seat-sharing formula on Friday.

After a meeting of the AICC's central election committee, Thorat said consensus was reached on contesting 90 seats each by the Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT), while the remaining 18 seats out of 288 would be distributed among smaller parties.

No senior Congress leader endorsed Thorat's formula, saying he was not part of the negotiations in New Delhi. "There is no such formula of 90:90:90. In fact, consensus was reached over Congress contesting 104 seats, UBT Sena 95 and NCP (SP) 84, while the remaining seats will be allotted to smaller parties," a senior Congress politician said.

Meanwhile, AICC has asked Thorat to meet Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday to resolve the row over disputed seats. Apparently, Nana Patole has written to Pawar and Thackeray over the manner in which NCP (SP) and UBT Sena unilaterally issued authorisation forms to candidates on disputed seats. NCP has alloted form for Nagpur East while UBT Sena has staked claim on Versova, Byculla, Wadala, Bandra East, Miraj, Partur, Ausa and Wani.

After Friday's meet, AICC general secretary in-charge Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala and state president Nana Patole refused to reveal the number of seats Congress will contest. Chennithala said seat-sharing talks are in the final stage and the final split among allies will be announced on Saturday.

After a meeting on Tuesday among top leaders of MVA, consensus was reached on contesting 105 seats by Congress, 95 by UBT Sena and 84 by NCP (SP). But following objections by UBT Sena, the formula was redrafted. UBT Sena MP Sanjay Raut then declared on Wednesday the formula had been revised and, as per the new formula, Congress, NCP and UBT Sena would contest 85 seats each, and the remaining seats would be granted to smaller parties, including Samajwadi Party, PWP, AAP and Bahuja Vikas Aghadi if its founder Hitendra Thakur joined MVA.

Then it was found there was error in calculation, and a revised formula was drafted. Accordingly, 104 seats were allotted to Congress, 94 to UBT Sena and 84 to NCP (SP). The formula included allotment of seats to SP and PWP. When it was finalised, suddenly, Thorat came out with a new formula of 90:90:90, creating confusion. -With inputs from New Delhi


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